Method and licensing system for automatically licensing service features during the upgrade of a communication system

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for automatically licensing service features during the upgrade of a first communication system ( 11 ) into a second communication system ( 12 ), said method having the following steps: (a) extracting the service features to be licensed from a database, (b) transmitting the service features to be licensed to a License Server (CLS), (c) generating a license file (LF) in the License server (CLS), (d) transmitting the license file (LF) to the second communication system ( 12 ), and (e) installing the license file (LF) in the second communication system ( 12 ). This invention also relates to a corresponding computer program and corresponding licensing system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/382,192, which is the United States nationalphase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT international application no.PCT/EP2012/000956, filed on Mar. 2, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

Embodiments relate to methods for automatically licensing featuresduring the upgrade of a first communication system to a secondcommunication system, a computer program and a licensing system toperform such method.

Background of the Related Art

Modern communication systems such as telephone systems for small, mediumand large enterprises are configurable and scalable in many ways, forexample using CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) and CSTA (ComputerSupported Telecommunications Applications). Mostly, the determinedfeatures are activated by means of a file containing licensing data.

A change in the scope of features to be licensed is often associated tothe upgrade of such a system. The reasons for this can be legal reasons(for example, required royalty payments to licensors), economic reasons(for example, if customers are to pay for a feature in a new version) ortechnical reasons (for example in old versions, as many TDM as availableports could connected while for a new system, a license is required foreach TDM device). TDM stands for Time Domain Multiplex and refers to atelecommunication device which uses a time multiplex procedure as forexample in “conventional” devices such as wireless phones, but not as inIP phones.

According to internal company procedures, the upgrade oftelecommunication systems may typically be carried out manuallyaccording to the following procedure:

1. A special user (who in many cases is a product manager or PM)acquires a quantity of licenses also known as PM-licenses for newsystems using standard procurement procedures. Different scenarios for“New Systems” are possible: It can be the hardware of a legacy system onwhich new software or new software features are updated or upgraded. Itcan be as well the use of new hardware which can operate new softwarewith newly licensed features.

2. As a further step of the ordering procedure the license fees arepaid.

3. After the ordering process is completed, the licenses becomeavailable on the PM's account.

4. Whenever a customer wants to upgrade an old system, he sends to thePM a proof of the presence of the features on the old system. This proofcan be provided in the form of screenshots, a delivery slip for the TDMdevices or the like.

5. The PM sends the new licenses manually to the customer's account.

6. This customer will then activate the new licenses.

The procedure described above has a number of disadvantages:

1. The PM must in each case estimate in advance how many are needed.

2. The royalty payment is made before the actual use or activation ofthe licenses, which is sooner than required.

3. Generally, the licenses are not immediately available, since theordering process takes some time.

4. The required evidence is not safe and there is room for abuse.

5. It can be impossible or very difficult to ensure that new licensesare not enabled on systems that have not been upgraded. In other words,it is difficult to prevent that such licenses are used to upgrade anexisting communication system on which no “old” license or software wasinstalled and to configure and activate it as functional system.

Another fundamental problem is that the upgrade is a manual processrequiring a significant effort and thus generating significant trainingand implementation costs as well as costs to correct errors and avoiderrors.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

We provide a method for automatically licensing features during theupgrade of a first communication system to a second communication, acorresponding computer program, and a corresponding licensing system.

According to an embodiment of the invention a computer aided andcomputer-based method for automatically licensing features during theupgrade of a first communication system to a second communication system(where the first communication system does not necessarily have to bedifferent from the second one in terms of hardware or software) includesthe following steps: first, the features that need to be licensed areextracted from a database. This database can be built, for example, fromexisting features in the first communication system. Then, the featureswhich have to be licensed are transmitted to a license server and alicense file is created, which is then transmitted to the secondcommunication system and is installed there also.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows schematically the components of a license system accordingto man exemplary embodiment of the invention and

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of a methodfor automatically licensing service features during the upgrade of afirst communication system to a second communication system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The method according to the invention replaces the usual manual workflowwith an automated procedure. The method can be executed in a simple andcost-effective manner, and it eliminates the need for licenses that areused later to be purchased and paid for in advance. By extracting thefeatures to be upgraded from existing databases and by transferring themto the license server, a simple and automated procedure is ensured.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the method, the step ofextracting the features to be licensed from the database comprises astep of reading the features of the first communication system anddepositing the data in a customer data memory. Thus, these data andfeatures can be transferred as a compact unit, which can for example bedone in binary format by means of an appropriate software tool.

It is advantageous to convert the content of the customer's data memoryand to expand it with further information, such as, for example, asgiven by means of the MAC address. Furthermore, it is advantageous ifthe step of transmitting the features that need to be licensed to thelicense serve comprises a step of transmitting the converted content ofthe customer data memory to the second communication system, and inaddition a step of generating and transmitting an inventory file to thelicense server. All the customer data (at least the essential customerdata) are included as an “Inventory” for example in this inventory file.The security of the transmission and the protection against fraud can besubstantially increased if the inventory file is cryptographicallysigned.

A particularly simple and safe process implementation is possiblebecause a License Authorization Code is entered on the license server.This license authorization code specifies and determines the licensedfeatures, and also which features need to be upgraded. The LicenseAuthorization Code can be used for an order to upgrade a version or toacquire additional licenses.

It may be advantageous if the license server could check first whetheror not the first communication system is upgraded. So it can beprevented that an old system without any license would be upgradedthrough an upgrade license.

Furthermore, it may be advantageous that the license server runs averification step to prevent another upgrade of a second communicationsystem. This means that for example, when replacing old hardware withnew hardware, systems cannot be upgraded via the license server. To thisend, a lock table is created, and by doing so, the MAC address of theold hardware, that has to be retired and replaced with new hardware, iscaptured which prevents the upgrade of the old hardware with an upgradelicense. This greatly reduces possible fraud.

Embodiments may also provide a computer program or computer programproduct according to claim 9 for carrying out any of the methodsdescribed above. The advantages and characteristics associated to themethods previously described are similarly applicable to the computerprogram, an therefore no separate description is provided.

Embodiments may also provide a licensing system. Such a licensing systemincludes a first communication system, a second communication system(which must not necessarily be different from the first communicationsystem in terms of hardware and/or software), as well as a licenseserver. The advantages and characteristics of the licensing systemaccording to the invention are similar to those previously describedwith regard to the methods and are therefore not described again.

As already mentioned, no upfront licenses a required by the method andthe computer program and licensing system according to the invention,which is why the royalty payment to the licensor does not take placeuntil the date on which the licenses are needed. It is also possiblethat an upgrade may optionally be carried out without ordering licenses,provided this is allowed by the system. This would be the case, forexample, that when switching to new hardware, the new or additionallicenses will be provided free of charge.

It should also be noted that all transactions are documented and can beeasily understood. The inventory file includes all previous features(excluding the upgrade newly added features.)

According to the invention it is thus possible to prevent in a simpleway that new licenses are activated on systems that were not upgradedsince proof of the presence on the old systems must first be provided.

Further advantages, features and characteristics of this invention willbecome apparent from the following description of an advantageousembodiment of both the method and the licensing system that can beappreciated from FIGS. 1 and 2.

The license system 10 comprises a first communication system 11 and asecond communication system 12 that are shown. The first communicationsystem 11 is an old system and the second communication system 12 is anew one which includes hardware changes. As already stated, the twocommunication systems 11, 12 can be the same and only differ in softwareand/or licenses.

A telecommunication system called OSO MX V3 by Siemens EnterpriseCommunications is used as an example for the first communication system11, while the next generation communication system called Next-GenSME isused as an example for the second communication system 12. Anapplication 14 for the administration of customer data (“ManagerE”),reads the customer data on the first communication system 11 and storesit in so-called customer data memory KDS. This KDS customer data memoryis then transferred as a binary file to the ManagerE. Here a stored thenumber of the features that have not been licensed on the firstcommunication system 11, but that are defined by means of other features(e.g. a proper hardware system). In this example it is the number ofphysically installed TDM devices or TDM users. This feature previouslyavailable for free should be considered as part of the version upgradesince it needs to be licensed on the new version of the product(NextGenSME, for example).

The number of features that must be upgraded (e.g. TDM users) isdetermined from the customer data memory by using a KDS-conversion.Here, the customer data include additional information (in particularthe MAC address of the system they belong to.)

The converted content KDS' of the customer data memory KDS istransferred to the second communication device 12. A so-called inventoryINV file is generated in the second communication system 12 andcryptographically signed.

The Inventory file INV is transferred to the license server (also calledCentral License Server) CLS using the WBM/CSCM interface for onlinelicensing via the Internet. WBM stands for Web-Based Management, whichis used for the administration of a communication system 11 or 12 on aweb server with an interface to a browser. CSCm stands for Customer SiteComponents modular, which is an interface between the WBM and thelicense server and is used to establish a connection to the licenseserver for the online licensing procedure. A license file LF isdownloaded from the license server CLS and the content of the loadedlicense is displayed in the WBM. In addition, a license authorizationcode LAC is entered via the WBM. A license order for a version upgradeand optionally for additional licenses is issued. To ensure that theinventory file was not tampered with, the license server CLS can verifythe signature and also ensure by means of the MAC address in thetransferred Inventory File and of a revocation list created in adatabase DB that the original system has not been upgraded yet. Thepresence (payment) of the available licenses required for the plannedupgrade can be checked by means of the transmitted License AuthorizationCodes LAC. The license server CLS generates the license file LF for thesecond communication system 12 taking into account the data in theinventory file, as well as the purchased licenses that are referencedvia the License Authorization Code LAC. To avoid a further activation ofthe Inventory INV files on another system or in another communicationsystem, the license server CLS records the MAC address from theinventory file in the revocation list. In case of an attempt to upgradea communication system whose corresponding MAC address is listed in therevocation list, an error message appears, and the licensing process iscanceled. This greatly enhances the security and protects againstfraudulent licensing.

The generated license file LF (also called license data) will be sentvia the Internet interface to the second communication system 12 whereit is installed. Subsequently, the second communication system 12 can beused with all the upgraded features.

It should be noted that the described features of the invention withreference to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, such assequence and exact execution of the individual method steps and thesoftware and hardware components used, may be present in otherembodiments and, except when otherwise indicated or prohibited fortechnical reasons.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for automatically activatingservice features for a communication system comprising: expanding datadeposited in non-transitory memory relating to the features of a firstcommunication system, wherein the data deposited in non-transitorymemory including at least one media access control (MAC) address of thefirst communication system; converting the expanded data to identifyfeatures that need to be upgraded and transferring the convertedexpanded data to a second communication system for generation of aninventory file, wherein the inventory file is cryptographically signedvia a cryptographic signature; sending the inventory file to a licenseserver; accessing a first license file from the license server andentering a license authorization code for the first license file tofacilitate creating a second license file on the license server for thesecond communication system based on the inventory file and the licenseauthorization code, wherein the license server verifying thecryptographic signature to ensure the first license file was nottampered with prior to creating the second license file for the secondcommunication system, and the license authorization code identifies thefeatures need to be upraded and at least one additional license that isneeded; verifying the first communication system was not alreadyupgraded via the MAC address prior to transferring the second licensefile created for the second communication system to the secondcommunication system; wherein the MAC address is identifiable from theinventory file; and receiving, by the second communication system, thesecond license file created for the second communication system from thelicense server such that the second license file created for the secondcommunication system is installable on the second communication system.2. The method of claim 1, comprising: reading customer data from thefirst communication system, and depositing the read customer data ascontent in the non-transitory memory that relates to features of thefirst communication system.
 3. The method of claim 1, comprising: thelicense server recording a media access control (“MAC”) addressidentified via the inventory file in a revocation list; and verifying,by the license server, that a third communication system has not yetbeen upgraded via the MAC address recorded in the revocation list. 4.The method of claim 1, comprising: preventing, by the license server, anupgrade of a third communication system when the third communicationsystem has a media access control (“MAC”) address listed on a revocationlist, the MAC address listed on the revocation list identifying a MACaddress from an inventory file for a communication system that hasalready been upgraded by use of the inventory file.
 5. A licensingsystem including at least one processor and at least one memory forautomatically licensing service features during an upgrade of a firstcommunication system to a second communication system, the memorystoring instructions executable by the at least one processor toperform: creating a license file for the second communication systembased on receipt of an inventory file from the second communicationsystem and a license authorization code that specifies at least one of:(a) at least one feature that needs upgraded and (b) at least oneadditional license that is needed, wherein the inventory file is formedbased on converted data from a first communication system thatidentified features that needed to be upgraded, and the inventory fileidentifies at least one media access control (MAC) address of the firstcommunication system; and transferring said license file created for thesecond communication system to the second communication system such thatthe license file created for the second communication system isinstallable on the second communication system, wherein the licensingsystem identifying the MAC address from the inventory file, andverifying that the first communication system was not already upgradedvia the MAC address prior to transferring the license file created forthe second communication system to the second communication system. 6.The licensing system of claim 5, wherein the instructions executable bythe at least one processor are configured so that the licensing systemalso performs: assessing a cryptographic signature of the inventoryfile.
 7. A licensing system including at least one processor and atleast one non-transitory memory for automatically licensing servicefeatures during an upgrade of a first communication system to form asecond communication system, the memory storing instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the licensing systemis configured to perform a method comprising: receiving a firstinventory file from the second communication system, the first inventoryfile based on converted content of customer data stored in the firstcommunication system and identifying at least one media access control(“MAC”) address of the first communication system and features of thefirst communication system; providing access to a first license fileassociated with the first communication system; receiving a licenseauthorization code that specifies at least one of (a) at least onefeature that needs upgraded and (b) at least one additional license thatis needed for the second communication system; generating a secondlicense file based on the received first inventory file and the receivedlicense authorization code; transmitting the generated second licensefile to the second communication system that is installable on thesecond communication system; recording a first Media Access Control(MAC) address from the first inventory file into a revocation list sothat the revocation list identifies the first MAC address; receiving asecond inventory file having a second MAC address; and checking therevocation list such that: upon a determination that the second MACaddress matches the first MAC address identified on the revocation list,cancelling upgrading of the first communication system that sent thesecond inventory file; and upon a determination that the second MACaddress does not match any MAC address identified on the revocationlist, allowing upgrading of the first communication system that sent thesecond inventory file to proceed.
 8. The licensing system of claim 7,wherein the at least one MAC address is comprised of a MAC address ofhardware that is to be retired and replaced with new hardware and thelicense authorization code identifies features that are to be upgradedfor the second communication system.
 9. The licensing system of claim 7,wherein the canceling of the upgrading of the first communication systemthat sent the second inventory file comprises communicating an errormessage to the first communication system.
 10. The licensing system ofclaim 7, wherein the converted content of customer data comprises anumber of time domain multiplex devices.
 11. The licensing system ofclaim 7, wherein the first inventory file is cryptographically signed.12. The licensing system of claim 7, wherein the converted content ofcustomer data comprises information relating to a number of time domainmultiplex devices and a MAC address of the first communication system.13. The licensing system of claim 7, wherein the licensing system isconfigured as a central license server.